The Grammar of English Grammars Part 218

II. ANTISTROPHE

Reckless of dainty joys, he finds delight Where feebler souls but tremble with affright.

Lo! now, within the deep ravine, A black impending cloud Infolds him in its shroud, And dark and darker glooms the scene.

Through the thicket streaming, Lightnings now are gleaming; Thunders rolling dread, Shake the mountain's head; Nature's war Echoes far, O'er ether borne, That flash The ash Has scath'd and torn!

Now it rages; Oaks of ages, Writhing in the furious blast, Wide their leafy honours cast; Their gnarled arms do force to force oppose Deep rooted in the crevic'd rock, The st.u.r.dy trunk sustains the shock, Like dauntless hero firm against a.s.sailing foes.

III. EPODE.

'0 Thou who sitst above these vapours dense, And rul'st the storm by thine omnipotence!

Making the collied cloud thy ear, Coursing the winds, thou rid'st afar, Thy blessings to dispense.

The early and the latter rain, Which fertilize the dusty plain, Thy bounteous goodness pours.

Dumb be the atheist tongue abhorr'd!

All nature owns thee, sovereign Lord!

And works thy gracious will; At thy command the tempest roars, At thy command is still.

Thy mercy o'er this scene sublime presides; 'Tis mercy forms the veil that hides The ardent solar beam; While, from the volley'd breast of heaven, Transient gleams of dazzling light, Flas.h.i.+ng on the b.a.l.l.s of sight, Make darkness darker seem.

Thou mov'st the quick and sulphurous leven-- The tempest-driven Cloud is riven; And the thirsty mountain-side Drinks gladly of the gus.h.i.+ng tide.'

So breath'd young Edwin, when the summer shower, From out that dark o'erchamb'ring cloud, With lightning flash and thunder loud, Burst in wild grandeur o'er his solitary bower.--_G. Brown._

THE END OF PART FOURTH.

KEY TO THE IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION, CONTAINED IN THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH GRAMMARS, AND DESIGNED FOR ORAL EXERCISES UNDER ALL THE RULES AND NOTES OF THE WORK.

[Fist][The various examples of error which are exhibited for oral correction, in the Grammar of English Grammars, are all here explained, in their order, by full amended readings, sometimes with authorities specified, and generally with references of some sort. They are intended to be corrected orally by the pupil, according to the formules given under corresponding heads in the Grammar. Some portion, at least, under each rule or note, should be used in this way; and the rest, perhaps, may be read and compared more simply.]

THE KEY.--PART I.--ORTHOGRAPHY.

CHAPTER I.--OF LETTERS. CORRECTIONS RESPECTING CAPITALS.

UNDER RULE I.--OF BOOKS.

"Many a reader of the _Bible_ knows not who wrote the _Acts_ of the _Apostles_"--G. B. "The sons of Levi, the chief of the fathers, were written in the book of the _Chronicles_."--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Neh._, xii, 23.

"Are they not written in the book of the _Acts_ of Solomon?"--FRIENDS'

BIBLE: I _Kings_, xi, 41. "Are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the _Kings_ of Israel?"--ALGER CORRECTED: I _Kings_, xxii, 39. "Are they not written in the book of the _Chronicles_ of the _Kings_ of Judah."--See ALGER: _ib., ver_. 45. "Which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the _Psalms_."--ALGER, ET AL.: _Luke_, xxiv, 44. "The narrative of which maybe seen in Josephus's History of the _Jewish War_"--_Dr. Scott cor._ [Obs.--The word in Josephus is "_War_," not "_Wars_."--_G. Brown._] "This _History of the Jewish War_ was Josephus's first work, and published about A. D. 75."--_Whiston cor._ "'I have read,'

says Photius, 'the Chronology of Justus of Tiberias.'"--_Id._ "_A Philosophical Grammar_, written by James Harris, Esquire."--_Murray cor._ "The reader is referred to Stroud's _Sketch_ of the _Slave Laws_"--_A. S.

Mag. cor._ "But G.o.d has so made the _Bible_ that it interprets itself."--_Idem_. "In 1562, with the help of Hopkins, he completed the _Psalter_."--_Gardiner cor._ "Gardiner says this of Sternhold; of whom the _Universal Biographical Dictionary_ and the American _Encyclopedia_ affirm, that he died in 1549."--_G. B._ "The t.i.tle of a book, to wit: 'English Grammar in _Familiar Lectures_,'" &c.--_Kirkham cor._ "We had not, at that time, seen Mr. Kirkham's 'Grammar in _Familiar_ Lectures.'"--_Id._ "When you pa.r.s.e, you may spread the Compendium before you."--_Id. right_.[516]

"Whenever you pa.r.s.e, you may spread the _Compendium_ before you."--_Id.

cor._ "Adelung was the author of a _Grammatical_ and _Critical Dictionary_ of the German _Language_, and other works." _Biog. Dict. cor._ "Alley, William, author of '_The Poor Man's Library_,' and a translation of the Pentateuch, died in 1570."--_Id._

UNDER RULE II.--OF FIRST WORDS.

"Depart instantly;"--"_Improve_ your time;"--"_Forgive_ us our sins."--_Murray corrected_. EXAMPLES:--"Gold is corrupting;"--"_The_ sea is green;"--"_A_ lion is bold."--_Mur. et al. cor._ Again: "It may rain;"--"_He_ may go or stay;"--"_He_ would walk;;"--"_They_ should learn."--_Iidem_. Again: "Oh! I have alienated my friend;"--"_Alas_! I fear for life."--_Iidem._ See _Alger's Gram._, p. 50. Again: "He went from London to York;"--"_She_ is above disguise;" "_They_ are supported by industry."--_Iidem_. "On the foregoing examples, I have a word to say.

_They_ are better than a fair specimen of their kind. _Our_ grammars abound with worse ill.u.s.trations. _Their_ models of English are generally spurious quotations. _Few_ of their proof-texts have any just parentage.

_Goose-eyes_ are abundant, but names scarce. _Who_ fathers the foundlings?

_n.o.body. Then_ let their merit be n.o.body's, and their defects his who could write no better."--_Author_. "_Goose-eyes_!" says a bright boy; "pray, what are they? _Does_ this Mr. Author make new words when he pleases?

_Dead-eyes_ are in a s.h.i.+p. _They_ are blocks, with holes in them. _But_ what are goose-eyes in grammar?" ANSWER: "_Goose-eyes_ are quotation points. _Some_ of the Germans gave them this name, making a jest of their form. _The_ French call them _guillemets_, from the name of their inventor."--_Author_. "_It_ is a personal p.r.o.noun, of the third person singular."--_Comly cor._ "_Ourselves_ is a personal p.r.o.noun, of the first person plural."--_Id._ "_Thee_ is a personal p.r.o.noun, of the second person singular."--_Id._ "_Contentment_ is a _common noun_, of the third person singular."--_Id._ "_Were_ is a neuter verb, of the indicative mood, imperfect tense."--_Id._

UNDER RULE III.--OF DEITY.

"O thou _Dispenser_ of life! thy mercies are boundless."--_Allen cor._ "Shall not the _Judge_ of all the earth do right?"--ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.: _Gen._, xviii, 25. "And the _Spirit of G.o.d_ moved upon the face of the waters."--SCOTT, ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.: _Gen._, i, 2. "It is the gift of _Him_, who is the great _Author_ of good, and the Father of mercies."--_Murray cor._ "This is thy _G.o.d_ that brought thee up out of Egypt."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Neh._, ix, 18. "For the LORD is our defence; and the _Holy One_ of Israel is our _King_."--_Psal._. lx.x.xix, 18. "By making him the responsible steward of _Heaven's_ bounties."--_A. S. Mag. cor._ "Which the Lord, the righteous _Judge_, shall give me at that day."--ALGER: _2 Tim._, iv, 8. "The cries of them ... entered into the ears of the Lord of _Sabaoth_."--ALGER, FRIENDS: _James_, v, 4. "In h.o.r.eb, the _Deity_ revealed himself to Moses, as the _Eternal_ 'I AM,' the _Self-existent One_; and, after the first discouraging interview of his messengers with Pharaoh, he renewed his promise to them, by the awful name, JEHOVAH--a name till then unknown, and one which the Jews always held it a fearful profanation to p.r.o.nounce."--_G. Brown_. "And _G.o.d_ spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of _G.o.d Almighty_; but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them."--SCOTT, ALGER, FRIENDS: _Exod._, vi, 2. "Thus saith the LORD[517] the _King_ of Israel, and his _Redeemer_ the LORD of hosts; I am the _First_, and I am the _Last_; and besides me there is no _G.o.d_."--See _Isa._, xliv, 6.

"His impious race their blasphemy renew'd, And nature's _King_, through nature's optics view'd."--_Dryden cor._

UNDER RULE IV.--OF PROPER NAMES.

"Islamism prescribes fasting during the month _Ramadan_."--_Balbi cor._ "Near _Mecca_, in _Arabia_, is _Jebel Nor_, or the _Mountain of Light_, on the top of which the _Mussulmans_ erected a mosque, that they might perform their devotions where, according to their belief, _Mohammed_ received from the angel _Gabriel_ the first chapter of the Koran."--_G. Brown_. "In the _Kaaba_ at _Mecca_ there is a celebrated block of volcanic basalt, which the _Mohammedans_ venerate as the gift of _Gabriel_ to _Abraham_, but their ancestors once held it to be an image of _Remphan_, or _Saturn_; so 'the image which fell down from _Jupiter_,' to share with _Diana_ the homage of the _Ephesians_, was probably nothing more than a meteoric stone."--_Id._ "When the _Lycaonians_ at _Lystra_ took _Paul_ and _Barnabas_ to be G.o.ds, they called the former _Mercury_, on account of his eloquence, and the latter _Jupiter_, for the greater dignity of his appearance."--_Id._ "Of the writings of the apostolic fathers of the first century, but few have come down to us; yet we have in those of _Barnabas, Clement_ of _Rome, Hermas, Ignatius_, and _Polycarp_, very certain evidence of the authenticity of the New Testament, and the New Testament is a voucher for the Old."--_Id._ "It is said by _Tatian_, that _Theagenes_ of _Rhegium_, in the time of _Cambyses, Stesimbrotus_ the _Thracian, Antimachus_ the _Colophonian, Herodotus_ of _Halicarna.s.sus, Dionysius_ the _Olynthian, Ephorus_ of _c.u.mae, Philochorus_ the _Athenian, Metaclides_ and _Chamaeleon_ the _Peripatetics_, and _Zenodotus, Aristophanes, Callimachus, Crates, Eratosthenes, Aristarchus_, and _Apollodorus_, the grammarians, all wrote concerning the poetry, the birth, and the age of _Homer_."--See _Coleridge's Introd._, p. 57. "Yet, for aught that now appears, the life of _Homer_ is as fabulous as that of _Hercules_; and some have even suspected, that, as the son of _Jupiter_ and _Alcmena_ has fathered the deeds of forty other _Herculeses_, so this unfathered son of _Critheis, Themisto_, or whatever dame--this _Melesigenes, Maeonides, Homer_--the blind schoolmaster, and poet, of _Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodes, Argos, Athens_, or whatever place--has, by the help of _Lycurgus, Solon, Pisistratus_, and other learned ancients, been made up of many poets or _Homers_, and set so far aloft and aloof on old _Parna.s.sus_, as to become a G.o.d in the eyes of all _Greece_, a wonder in those of all _Christendom_."--_G. Brown_.

"Why so sagacious in your guesses?

Your _Effs_, and _Tees_, and _Ars_, and _Esses_?"--_Swift corrected_.

UNDER RULE V.--OF t.i.tLES.

"The king has conferred on him the t.i.tle of _Duke_."--_Murray cor._ "At the court of _Queen_ Elizabeth."--_Priestley's E. Gram._, p. 99; see _Bullions's_, p. 24. "The laws of nature are, truly, what _Lord_ Bacon styles his aphorisms, laws of laws."--_Murray cor._ "Sixtus the Fourth was, if I mistake not, a great collector of books."--_Id._ "Who at that time made up the court of _King_ Charles the _Second_"--_Id._ "In case of his _Majesty's_ dying without issue."--_Kirkham cor._ "King Charles the _First_ was beheaded in 1649."--_W. Allen cor._ "He can no more impart, or (to use _Lord_ Bacon's word) _transmit_ convictions."--_Kirkham cor._ "I reside at _Lord_ Stormont's, my old patron and benefactor." Better: "I reside _with Lord Stormont_, my old patron and benefactor."--_Murray cor._ "We staid a month at _Lord Lyttelton's_, the ornament of his country." Much better: "We stayed a month at _the seat of Lord Lyttelton, who is_ the ornament of his country."--_Id._ "Whose prerogative is it? It is the _King_-of-Great- Britain's;" [518]--"That is the _Duke_-of-Bridgewater's ca.n.a.l;"--"The _Bishop_-of-Landaff's excellent book;"--"The Lord _Mayor_-of-London's authority."--_Id._ (See Murray's Note 4th on his Rule 10th.) "Why call ye me, _Lord, Lord_, and do not the things which I say?"--_Luke_, vi, 46. "And of them he chose twelve, whom also he named _Apostles_."--ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.: _Luke_, vi, 13. "And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, _Master_; and kissed him."--_Matt._, xxvi, 49. "And he said, Nay, _Father_ Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they _would_ repent."--_Bible cor._

UNDER RULE VI.--OF ONE CAPITAL.

"_Fallriver_, a village in Ma.s.sachusetts, population (in 1830) 3,431."--_Williams cor._ "Dr. Anderson died at _Westham_, in Ess.e.x, in 1808."--_Biog. Dict. cor._ "_Madriver_, the name of two towns in Clark and Champaign counties, Ohio."--_Williams cor._ "_Whitecreek_, a town of Was.h.i.+ngton county, New York."--_Id._ "_Saltcreek_, the name of four towns in different parts of Ohio."--_Id._ "_Saltlick_, a town of Fayette county, Pennsylvania."--_Id._ "_Yellowcreek_, a town of Columbiana county, Ohio."--_Id._ "_Whiteclay_, a hundred of _Newcastle_ county, Delaware."-- _Id._ "Newcastle, _a_ town and _half-s.h.i.+re_ of Newcastle county, Delaware."--_Id._ "_Singsing_, a village of _Westchester_ county, New York, situated in the town of _Mountpleasant_."--_Id._ "_Westchester_, a county of New York: _East Chester and West Chester are towns_ in Westchester county."--_Id._ "_Westtown_, a village of Orange county, New York."--_Id._ "_Whitewater_, a town of Hamilton county, Ohio."--_Worcester's Gaz._ "_Whitewater_ River, a considerable stream that rises in Indiana, and flowing southeasterly unites with the Miami in Ohio."--See _ib._ "_Blackwater_, a village of Hamps.h.i.+re, in England, and a town in Ireland."--See _ib._ "_Blackwater_, the name of seven different rivers, in England, Ireland, and the United States."--See _ib._ "_Redhook_, a town of Dutchess county, New York, on the Hudson."--_Williams cor._ "Kinderhook, a town of Columbia county, New York, on the Hudson."--_Williams right_.

"_Newfane_, a town of Niagara county, New York."--_Williams cor._ "_Lakeport_, a town of Chicot county, Arkansas."--_Id._ "_Moosehead_ Lake, the chief source of the Kennebeck, in Maine."--_Id._ (See _Worcester's Gaz._) "Macdonough, a county of Illinois, population (in 1830) 2,959."--_Williams's Univ. Gaz._, p 408. "_Macdonough_, a county of Illinois, with a _court-house_ at Macomb."--_Williams cor._ "_Halfmoon_, the name of two towns in New York and Pennsylvania; also of two bays in the West Indies."--_S. Williams's Univ. Gaz._ "_Leboeuf_, a town of Erie county, Pennsylvania, near a small lake of the same name."--See _ib._ "_Charlescity, Jamescity, Eiizabethcity_, names of counties in Virginia, not cities, nor towns."--See _Univ. Gaz._, p. 404.[519] "The superior qualities of the waters of the Frome, here called _Stroudwater_."--_Balbi cor._

UNDER RULE VII.--OF TWO CAPITALS.

"The Forth rises on the north side of _Ben Lomond_, and runs easterly."--_Glasgow Geog._, 8vo, _corrected_. "The red granite of _Ben Nevis_ is said to be the finest in the world."--_Id._ "_Ben More_, in Perths.h.i.+re, is 3,915 feet above the level of the sea."--_Id._ "The height of _Ben Cleagh_ is 2,420 feet."--_Id._ "In Sutherland and Caithness, are Ben Ormod, Ben Clibeg, Ben Grin, Ben Hope, and Ben Lugal."--_Glas. Geog.

right_. "_Ben Vracky_ is 2,756 feet high; _Ben Ledi_, 3,009; and _Ben Voirloich_, 3,300."--_Glas. Geog. cor._ "The river Dochart gives the name of _Glen Dochart_ to the vale through which it runs."--_Id._ "About ten miles from its source, it [the Tay] diffuses itself into _Loch Dochart_."--_Glasgow Geog._, Vol. ii, p. 314. LAKES:--"_Loch Ard_, Loch Achray, Loch Con, Loch Doine, Loch Katrine, Loch Lomond, Loch Voil."--_Scott corrected_. GLENS:--"_Glen Finlas_, Glen Fruin, Glen Luss, _Ross Dhu, Leven Glen_, Strath Endrick, Strath Gartney. Strath Ire."--_Id._ MOUNTAINS:--"_Ben An, Ben Harrow, Ben Ledi_, Ben Lomond, _Ben Voirlich, Ben Venue_, or, (as some spell it,) _Ben Ivenew_."--_Id._[520] "Fenelon died in 1715, deeply lamented by all the inhabitants of the _Low Countries_."--_Murray cor._ "And _Pharaoh Necho_[521] made Eliakim, the son of Josiah, king."--See ALGER: _2 Kings_, xiii, 34. "Those who seem so merry and well pleased, call her _Good Fortune_; but the others, who weep and wring their hands, _Bad Fortune_."--_Collier cor._

UNDER RULE VIII.--OF COMPOUNDS.

"When Joab returned, and smote Edom in the _Valley_ of _Salt_"--FRIENDS'

BIBLE: _Ps_. lx, t.i.tle. "Then Paul stood in the midst of _Mars Hill_, and said," &c.--_Scott cor._ "And at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the _Mount_ of Olives."--_Bible cor._ "Abgillus, son of the king of the Frisii, surnamed Prester John, was in the Holy _Land_ with Charlemagne."--_U. Biog. Dict. cor._ "Cape Palmas, in Africa, divides the Grain _Coast_ from the Ivory _Coast_."--_Dict. of Geog. cor._ "The North Esk, flowing from Loch _Lee_, falls into the sea three miles north of Montrose."--_Id._ "At Queen's _Ferry_, the channel of the Forth is contracted by promontories on both coasts."--_Id._ "The Chestnut _Ridge_ is about twenty-five miles west of the Alleghanies, and Laurel _Ridge_, ten miles further west."--_Balbi cor._ "Was.h.i.+ngton _City_, the metropolis of the United States of America."--_Williams, U. Caz._, p. 380. "Was.h.i.+ngton _City_, in the District of Columbia, population (in 1830) 18,826."--_Williams cor._ "The loftiest peak of the _White Mountains_, in New Hamps.h.i.+re, is called _Mount_ Was.h.i.+ngton."--_G. Brown_. "Mount's _Bay_, in the west of England, lies between the _Land's End_ and _Lizard Point_."--_Id._ "Salamis, an island of the Egean Sea, off the southern coast of the ancient Attica."--_Dict. of Geog_. "Rhodes, an island of the Egean _Sea_, the largest and most easterly of the Cyclades."--_Id. cor._ "But he overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red _Sea_."--SCOTT: _Ps_.

cx.x.xvi, 15. "But they provoked him at the sea, even at the Red _Sea_."--ALGER, FRIENDS: _Ps_. cvi, 7.

UNDER RULE IX.--OF APPOSITION.

"At that time, Herod the _tetrarch_ heard of the fame of Jesus."--SCOTT, FRIENDS, ET AL.: _Matt._, xiv, 1. "Who has been more detested than Judas the _traitor?_"--_G. Brown_. "St. Luke the _evangelist_ was a physician of Antioch, and one of the converts of St. Paul."--_Id._ "Luther, the _reformer_, began his bold career by preaching against papal indulgences."--_Id._ "The _poet_ Lydgate was a disciple and admirer of Chaucer: he died in 1440."--_Id._ "The _grammarian_ Varro, 'the most learned of the Romans,'[522] wrote three books when he was eighty years old."--_Id._ "John Despauter, the great _grammarian_ of Flanders, whose works are still valued, died in 1520."--_Id._ "Nero, the _emperor_ and _tyrant_ of Rome, slew himself to avoid a worse death."--_Id._ "Cicero the _orator_, 'the Father of his Country,' was a.s.sa.s.sinated at the age of 64."--_Id._ "Euripides, the Greek _tragedian_, was born in the _island_ of Salamis, B. C. 476."--_Id._ "I will say unto G.o.d my _rock_, Why hast thou forgotten me?"--ALGER, ET AL.: _Ps_. xlii, 9. "Staten Island, an island of New York, nine miles below New York _city_."--_Williams cor._ "When the son of Atreus, _king_ of _men_, and the n.o.ble Achilles first separated."--_Coleridge cor._

"Hermes, his _patron-G.o.d_, those gifts bestow'd, Whose shrine with _weanling_ lambs he wont to load."--_Pope cor._

UNDER RULE X.--OF PERSONIFICATIONS.